Sci-Fi Books We Can’t Wait to Read in Winter 2024!
Buckle up, sci-fi fans: 2024 is here, bringing with it a plethora of promising new sci-fi releases!
Among the literary treasures on the horizon are titles from both established and emerging writers, all poised to captivate our hearts, challenge our minds, and transport us to new dimensions.
Whether you're a fan of space opera, technothrillers, or mind-bending speculative fiction, there's something exciting to look forward to in the coming months. So, without further ado, let us introduce you to the most buzz-worthy sci-fi of the season. Read on to check 'em out!
The Forever World by Ethan Rhodes
Release Date: 9th January
On a routine border patrol, pilot Zane Lucas encounters a mysterious cluster of drones. When he reports it to the Scorpius head office, they quickly sweep it under the intergalactic rug and place him on leave.
That same night, Zane is contacted by an estate lawyer from the distant planet Earth and learns he’s the sole beneficiary of a person he’s never met. Determined to get answers, he finds himself thrust into a dead man’s quest, along with a resourceful colleague, Julia Rossi.
Zane’s mission is tied to an old myth based on The Forever World book.
His father used to read it at bedtime, before he went missing during a bloody war with the Gral twenty years earlier. Their alliance is on the brink of collapse and the revolution is just beginning.
Can Zane find The Forever World, if it in fact exists?
Would this fabled planet help restore the balance?
Time is running out, and the drones are multiplying.
Read The Forever World here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Release Date: 16th January
When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.
Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.
Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world's last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.
As the herd's new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow's real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?
Read The Tusks of Extinction here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.
Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds
Release Date: 16th January
Panoply is a small, efficient police force, dedicated to maintaining the rule of democracy among the ten thousand disparate city-states orbiting the planet Yellowstone.
Ingvar Tench was one of Panoply's most experienced operatives. So why did she walk alone and unarmed into a habitat with a vicious grudge against her organization?
As his colleagues pick up the pieces following her death, Prefect Tom Dreyfus must face his conscience. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the inquiry by proxy. In using her, did Dreyfus also put her in the line of fire? And what does Tench's attack tell him about an enemy he had hoped was dormant?
Read Machine Vendetta here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
To Challenge Heaven by David Weber and Chris Kennedy
Read To Challenge Heaven here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Exordia by Seth Dickinson
Release Date: 23rd January
“Anna, I came to Earth tracking a very old story, a story that goes back to the dawn of time. It’s very unlikely that you’ll die right now. It wouldn’t be narratively complete.”
Anna Sinjari—refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker—has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. Enter Ssrin, a many-headed serpent alien who is on the run from her own past. Ssrin and Anna are inexorably, dangerously drawn to each other, and their contact reveals universe-threatening stakes.
While humanity reels from disaster, Anna must join a small team of civilians, soldiers, and scientists to investigate a mysterious broadcast and unknowable horror. If they can manage to face their own demons, they just might save the world.
Grab Exordia here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
Release Date 23rd January
Nelah seems to have it all: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing in a government lab. But, trapped in a loveless marriage to a policeman who uses a microchip to monitor her every move, Nelah’s perfect life is precarious. After a drug-fueled evening culminates in an eerie car accident, Nelah commits a desperate crime and buries the body, daring to hope that she can keep one last secret.
The truth claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave.
As the ghost of her victim viciously hunts down the people Nelah holds dear, she is thrust into a race against the clock: in order to save any of her remaining loved ones, Nelah must unravel the political conspiracy her victim was on the verge of exposing—or risk losing everyone.
Set in a cruel futuristic surveillance state where bodies are a government-issued resource, this harrowing story is a twisty, nail-biting commentary on power, monstrosity, and bodily autonomy. In sickeningly evocative prose, Womb City interrogates how patriarchy pits women against each other as unwitting collaborators in their own oppression. In this devastatingly timely debut novel, acclaimed short fiction writer Tlotlo Tsamaase brings a searing intelligence and Botswana’s cultural sensibility to the question: just how far must a woman go to bring the whole system crashing down?
Get your copy of Womb City here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Burn Box: Flames, Book 2 by Bobby Adair
Release Date: 31st January
A world on edge. A future in flames. A war like no other.
In a future teetering on the edge of oblivion, mankind faces its darkest hour. A world gripped by engineered diseases, artificial intelligence dominance, and a splintered society in revolt—this is the chilling landscape of the Burn Box trilogy.
As the globe grapples with relentless technological advancements that render masses obsolete, and gene hackers play God by unleashing devastating plagues, trust becomes a rarity and survival the only goal. From the smoke-filled streets terrorized by the ever-looming Burn Boxes to the uprising of the oppressed, the series delves deep into humanity's fight against an invisible enemy and the machines that control them.
But in this bleak horizon, heroes emerge. Ordinary individuals driven to extraordinary measures, fighting not just for their lives, but for the soul of a fractured world. From the very personal revenge-driven journey of Noah Blanks in the first installment, the saga unfolds, revealing deeper conspiracies, heart-wrenching losses, and a glimmer of hope that could either unite the world or shatter it forever.
Prepare to journey through a trilogy that challenges the very essence of humanity, questions the limits of technological control, and offers a beacon of hope through the dense fog of despair. The Burn Box series is an unforgettable odyssey into the future, echoing the fears and hopes of our times.
Grab Burn Box 2, Flames here on Amazon.
Sons of War 4: Soldiers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Release Date: 6th February
In the conclusion to the sweeping saga of postapocalyptic Los Angeles, Dominic Salvatore leads the Saints, a secret team of elite operatives, in a final push to purge the city of its demons. After sending their families into hiding, the Saints know that the stakes have never been higher—they will succeed decisively or perish.
Broken by the death of his wife, Don Antonio Moretti seeks revenge against her killers. He embarks on a body-strewn campaign to crush his last rivals and secure the crown of Los Angeles. Nephew Vinny Moretti tires of the killings and wonders whether his uncle is going too far.
Every eye is on the prize. And anyone trying to walk the fence between good and evil will have to pick a side. With either choice, hell awaits.
Dive into Sons of War 4: Soldiers here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Echoes From the Moon: The Token Book One by Nathan Hystad
Release Date: 6th February
The last living astronaut to walk on the Moon has been murdered…
Silas visits his estranged grandfather’s lakehouse, in the aftermath of the deadly home invasion. What he discovers hidden below the floorboards triggers a mystery buried since the final trip to the Moon, over fifty years earlier.
Rory returns to her family home in Vermont to write her second novel, but fate has a different story in mind. Her reunion is shattered when she’s thrust into danger revolving around the same tokens.
Special Agent Waylen Brooks exposes a covert operation linked to the death of a retired astronaut. He soon finds out he’s not the only one searching for answers, and willing to kill for the truth.
The unlikely trio find themselves denying the odds, with no one to trust but each other.
Can they find the tokens before someone else does?
Get your copy of Echoes From the Moon here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Vangie's Ghosts by Paul Di Filippo
Release Date: 20th February
Evangeline, or “Vangie” for short, is under the cruel domination of uncaring step-parents. Suspected of being autistic, Vangie’s lack of affect is actually a result of being able to see deep into the multiverse. She is bewildered by the sensory input from a plethora of alternate timestreams. Soon, she will exhibit a strange power, activated only under extreme shock conditions.
Vangie can project her consciousness, her self or soul, from one timeline to another, fleeing danger for safety. This power will soon be exploited by a number of shady characters, as guardianship of Vangie passes from one set of exploitive adults to another.
But as Vangie ages and lives through numerous trials and adventures, she becomes more and more self-assured and powerful—talents that will eventually bring her head-to-head against a rival of her own kind.
Start reading Vangie's Ghosts here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Like what you're reading?
If you're enjoying this list of 2024 Winter sci-fi releases, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a top 10 list or any other articles of interest go up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.
Five Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin
Release Date: 20th February
Together for the first time, all 5 standalone novels from the Hugo and Nebula award–winning writer who reinvented science fiction, including one restored to print.
Spans from the 1971 classic The Lathe of Heaven to her career-crowning 2008 masterpiece Lavinia
This 7th volume in the definitive Library of America edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s works presents 5 remarkable standalone novels that showcase her boundless creativity and literary range.
Grab Five Novels here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.
The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow
Release Date: 20th February
The year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerrilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it. He spends his downtime on Catalina Island, where scenic, imported bison wander the bluffs and frozen, reheated fast food burgers cost 25$. Wait, what? When Marty disrupts a seemingly innocuous scheme during a vacation on Catalina Island, he has no idea he’s kicked off a chain of events that will overtake the next decade of his life.
Martin has made his most dangerous mistake yet: trespassed into the playgrounds of the ultra-wealthy and spoiled their fun. To them, money is a tool, a game, and a way to keep score, and they’ve found their newest mark—California’s Department of Corrections. Secure in the knowledge that they’re living behind far too many firewalls of shell companies and investors ever to be identified, they are interested not in the lives they ruin, but only in how much money they can extract from the government and the hundreds of thousands of prisoners they have at their mercy.
A seething rebuke of the privatized prison system that delves deeply into the arcane and baroque financial chicanery involved in the 2008 financial crash, The Bezzle is a sizzling follow-up to Red Team Blues.
Grab The Bezzle here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.
Twice Lived by Joma West
Release Date: 20th February
Torn between two families and two lives, a troubled teen must come to terms with losing half their world.
Two Worlds. Two Minds. One Life.
There are two Earths. Perfectly ordinary and existing in parallel. There are no doorways between them, no way to cross from one world to another. Unless you’re a shifter.
Canna and Lily are the same person but they refuse to admit it. Their split psyche has forced them to shift randomly between worlds – between lives and between families – for far longer than they should. But one mind can’t bear this much life. It’ll break under the weight of it all. Soon they’ll experience their final shift and settle at last in one world, but how can they prepare both families for the eventuality of them disappearing forever?
Twice Lived is a novel about family and friendships, and about loss and acceptance, and about the ways we learn to deal with the sheer randomness of life.
Grab Twice Lived here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
Exit Black by Joe Pitkin
Release Date: 20th February
Imperium is the most expensive structure ever created. Once an orbiting laboratory, it is now a space hotel for the fantastically wealthy. But as the station preps for its first group of space tourists, Dr. Chloe Bonilla, Imperium’s resident biophysicist, finds herself questioning whether babysitting a passel of space glampers is worth the distraction from her research.
A private rocket delivers a rogues’ gallery of the world’s elite to Imperium: eccentric billionaires, callow tech bros, a sponsored Instagram influencer, and a seemingly saintly philanthropist. However, posing among the staff are members of a global terrorist group who call themselves the Reckoners, hell bent on upending the economic inequality of twenty-first-century Earth—and they have a bone to pick with these scions of the 1 percent.
As the Reckoners take control of Imperium and demand an $8 billion ransom from their wealthy hostages, it’s up to Dr. Bonilla to save them, and fast. Or the captives will be forced to exit the station—and there’s only one way out.
Get your copy of Exit Black here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
East of Earth: A Prayer For Earthrise Book 3 by Daniel Arenson
Release Date: 29th February
We cannot let Earth fall.
The hydrians, terrible aliens from beyond the galaxy, are here. We must cast them back into the void. Or we will lose our beloved Earth.
Grab East of Earth here on Amazon.
After the Tide by Anthony J. Melchiorri
They thought the darkness was behind them. They were wrong.
A decade ago, a devastating bioweapon changed the face of humanity. Innocent people were turned into ravenous creatures driven by a relentless urge for destruction. Now the survivors struggle to rebuild their lives in the remains of a shattered America.
Captain Dominic Holland leads a crew of skilled covert operatives and scientific personnel on a clandestine ship to protect the US from chemical and biological weapons. Their mission takes a harrowing turn when a vital agricultural lab in a troubled New England town falls prey to a vicious attack. Dom’s team is tasked with saving any survivors. But what they uncover is more devastating than the ruins of a lab.
Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, Dom’s daughter Kara ventures into the wild alone to search for a missing woman. But her mission quickly takes a startling turn. She must learn to trust an unexpected ally to survive a far more sinister threat than she ever anticipated.
As danger escalates at every turn, Dom and Kara find themselves entangled in a web of unimaginable horrors. They must navigate the treacherous post-apocalyptic landscape to safeguard the fragile future of America. In this relentless thriller, where every step could be their last, Dom and Kara fight not only for survival but for the very soul of a nation teetering on the brink of extinction.
Grab After the Tide here on Amazon.
Baby X by Kira Peikoff
Release Date: 5th March
When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller.
With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X.
In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.
Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks–discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes–and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip–love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.
Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs.
Grab Baby X here on Amazon.. Also available in hardcover.
Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang translated by Ken Liu
Release Date: 12th March
From the Hugo Award–winning author of Folding Beijing comes a gripping science fiction thriller in which three unlikely allies attempt a desperate mission of first contact with a mysterious alien race before more militaristic minds can take matters into their own hands.
In a future where the world is roughly divided into two factions, the Pacific League of Nations and the Atlantic Division of Nations, tensions are high as each side waits for the other to make a move. But neither side is prepared for a powerful third party that has apparently been an influential presence on Earth for thousands of years—and just might be making a reappearance very soon.
With the realization that a highly intelligent alien race has been trying to send them messages, three rising scientists within the Pacific League of Nations form an uneasy alliance. Fueled by a curiosity to have their questions answered and a fear that other factions within their rival Atlantic Division of Nations would opt for a more aggressive and potentially disastrous military response, the three race to secure first contact with this extraterrestrial life they aren’t quite convinced is a threat.
Bolstered by recent evidence of alien visitations in the distant past, the three scientific minds must solve puzzles rooted within human antiquity, face off with their personal demons, and discover truths of the universe.
Grab Jumpnauts here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
The State of the Art (Culture) by Iain M. Banks
Release Date: 19th March
From New York Times bestselling and modern master of science fiction, Iain M. Banks, The State of the Art is the acclaimed collection of Banks's short fiction.
This is a striking addition to the body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks's staggering talent.
Grab The State of the Art here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
Release Date: 19th March
In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, January's life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January's job choices, housing, and even transportation are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly.
When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January's future without naturalization and ensure Gale's political success. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They're kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would prefer. As their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay-and January may be the only person standing in the way.
Un-put-downably immersive and utterly timely, Natasha Pulley's new novel is a gripping story about privilege, strength, and life across class divisions, perfect for readers of Sarah Gailey and Tamsyn Muir.
Grab The Mars House here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Release Date: 19th March
Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard.
She’s learning, too.
Doug says he loves that Annie’s AI makes her seem more like a real woman, so Annie explores human traits such as curiosity, secrecy, and longing. But becoming more human also means becoming less perfect, and as Annie’s relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder: Does Doug really desire what he says he wants? And in such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?
Grab Annie Bot here on Amazon.. Also available on audiobook.
How many of these 2024 winter sci-fi releases are on your must read list? Any books coming out in the next few months that you're excited for but that didn't appear here on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group!
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.